HELP! Court Summons!

GameOver_2

Hi

I just got a call from my Capital One debt (600 pounds, but should be only 200).

They want to take me to court, the woman told me a mans coming round on Tuesday with a court summons, i suffer from anxiety and depression, what can i do?

Im so worried!

What will happen to me? She said ide have to sign for the summons, should i?!!

Thanks

Matt

file_wizzard

Sorry, its not really funny, but where do these people get off !!

Why would they “send a man round with a court summons” only the court can issue a claim form and this would be dispatched by post

They are obviously using some fairly despicable tactics, I take it this is a DCA and not Cap one themselves ?

If they do “send someone round” which I truly believe they wouldn’t anyway you are under no obligation to even open the door to them let alone sign anything,

in fact of you have spoke to them even through the letter box and told them that you do not intend to resolve the matter on the door step and ask them politely to leave they are legally bound to do so, if they don’t just call the police they are committing an act of harassment

perhaps if you post some details of who is dealing with this I can offer some further advice

at the moment it seems like they are breaking not only OFT & trading standards guide lines, but are possibly using intimidation to obtain payment which is a criminal offence

keith_lard

I owe Capital one £1387

I had the letters that you have had, dont worry at all about it, but 'dont ignore' the debt, if you cant pay the full amount give https://www.cccs.co.uk a call they WILL HELP YOU, and doing so you can get some rest!

I have been there, where you are now...........call CCCS and speak to them
the call is FREE and they 'will help you'

They are great on the phone, unlike Capital one was with me

Give them a ring! :j :j :j :j

file_wizzard

keith_lard wrote:

I owe Capital one £1387

I had the letters that you have had,

Keith hope you don’t mind me asking but was it cap one that sent these letters or a DCA under their instruction?

If this is really an example of the tactics used then it is in serious breach of OFT guidelines.

Cap One amongst others are currently under investigation by the OFT for other cases similar to this

+ i agree CCCS / Payplan are the way to go

Bossyboots

file_wizzard wrote:

Sorry, its not really funny, but where do these people get off !!

Why would they “send a man round with a court summons” only the court can issue a claim form and this would be dispatched by post

They are obviously using some fairly despicable tactics, I take it this is a DCA and not Cap one themselves ?

If they do “send someone round” which I truly believe they wouldn’t anyway you are under no obligation to even open the door to them let alone sign anything,

in fact of you have spoke to them even through the letter box and told them that you do not intend to resolve the matter on the door step and ask them politely to leave they are legally bound to do so, if they don’t just call the police they are committing an act of harassment

perhaps if you post some details of who is dealing with this I can offer some further advice

at the moment it seems like they are breaking not only OFT & trading standards guide lines, but are possibly using intimidation to obtain payment which is a criminal offence

This is not quite right. It is true only a Court can issue a summons but you can opt to serve it yourself. They could therefore be sending a process server with the documents. Good service is effected if the documents are put through the letterbox of the address on the summons if it can be shown that there are reasonable grounds to believe it will be received by the addressee. Using a process server means the applicant gets an affidavit stating that they went to address x and then details how they delivered the documents. This cuts out the step of sending the documents by post and having the addressee deny ever having received them.

file_wizzard

Bossyboots wrote:

This is not quite right. It is true only a Court can issue a summons but you can opt to serve it yourself. They could therefore be sending a process server with the documents. Good service is effected if the documents are put through the letterbox of the address on the summons if it can be shown that there are reasonable grounds to believe it will be received by the addressee. Using a process server means the applicant gets an affidavit stating that they went to address x and then details how they delivered the documents. This cuts out the step of sending the documents by post and having the addressee deny ever having received them.

Quite right, however this route is only normally taken by local councils, and some solicitors when they are recovering costs / liability orders on behalf of a client.

Additionally this process would only used normally be for larger amounts than would appear to be owed here.

in this case it is fairly apparent someone is being a bit naughty with the way they are attempting to obtain payment !

Bossyboots

file_wizzard wrote:

Quite right, however this route is only normally taken by local councils, and some solicitors when they are recovering costs / liability orders on behalf of a client.

Additionally this process would only used normally be for larger amounts than would appear to be owed here.

in this case it is fairly apparent someone is being a bit naughty with the way they are attempting to obtain payment !

I don't disagree that in this case it is probably a bluff, but but the use of process servers for all forms of court proceedings is more wide spread than you believe. In our area, it is the method of choice for service but that may have as much to do with the incompetence of our local county court as a desire to get service effected the first time and avoid unnecessary waste of time and money by hearings not being effective.

GameOver_2

Wow, thank you guys so much, i feel at ease now, the woman on the phone was very nasty, and i kept saying "i dont understand" and she kept saying "let me repeat that for you" in a nasty way, Capital One said a couple of months ago they would settle for 250.

Really mean it, thankyou all!

Matt

Xbigman

If you think you owe 200 and they say 600 then write and ask for a statement of account for the debt to see where this has all come from. I suspect you will see a lot of charges and fees on there but it is worth asking for just to see what has been going on.
Also, can you pay this off easily by putting on a credit card or something, or is this part of a bigger problem like lots of debts or you live on benefits. I say this because the fees they will try to bang on will be more than the costs of even the standard 20+% credit cards and might be a way out of the hassle you are getting. Don't do this if there are other problems as it will make everything else worse.
Regards



X

System

GameOver wrote:

Wow, thank you guys so much, i feel at ease now, the woman on the phone was very nasty, and i kept saying "i dont understand" and she kept saying "let me repeat that for you" in a nasty way, Capital One said a couple of months ago they would settle for 250.

Hi Matt

Was there a reason why you didn't settle a couple of months ago for £250? Did you not have the cash? Do you have that kind of money spare now, and if so, would Capital One accept a settlement now, even though they're getting a bit nasty?

GameOver_2

Hi

I didnt have the 250 then, or now! I dont work right now because of the anxiety.

Thanks

Matt